Battle Of The Fire Throne
by nikostanley1
Summary: When Azula wins the Agni Kai with Zuko, what will this mean for the Fire Nation, the war, and Team Avatar? NOTE: There will most likely be more than 4 main characters, the character limit got me.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender. This is my first fan-fic, so it might not be too good. Constructive criticism is welcome!**

_Katara watched in horror as Zuko leaped straight into the path of the lightning bolt. They both knew that redirection of lightning required deep concentration and a steady stance, or it could prove fatal. Zuko was anything but calm and concentrated right now, but that didn't matter. He could not let himself be the cause of a friend's death, no matter what the cost._

"_Azula is being overpowered by Zuko, and she knows it too,_" thought Katara. "_I wonder why she hasn't tried using any lightning yet. She may be too insane think of it right now, or she could be planning a surprise attack._" Azula and Zuko have been fighting an Agni Kai over the throne for the past ten minutes, and it seems as if Azula is being overwhelmed and overpowered by Zuko. Whenever Azula believes she has the upper hand, Zuko counterattacks and steals it back. "What am I supposed to do?! I don't have anything left, and Zuzu is beginning to win! I cannot be defeated like this, especially by the likes of brother!" thought Azula angrily. Azula was deep in thought when suddenly, she was swept off her feet onto the ground by a fire blast to the feet.

"No lightning today? What's the matter, afraid I'll re-direct it?" bragged a rather cocky Zuko. He didn't know it at the moment, but those words would be the largest regret, and last regret, of his life. "You want to see lightning?! I'll show you lightning!" Azula angrily replied. "_I'll make him eat those words,_" thought Azula with a smirk on her face. Zuko didn't suspect a thing. He was ready in his stance, just like his Uncle Iroh taught him. He thought he was prepared, but he was wrong. Azula charged her lightning, and shot it directly in Katara's direction! Katara watched in horror as Zuko leaped straight into the path of the lightning bolt. They both knew that redirection of lightning required deep concentration and a steady stance, or it could prove fatal. Zuko was anything but calm and concentrated right now, but that didn't matter. He could not let himself be the cause of a friend's death, no matter what the cost. He could not just stand there. Just as the lightning bolt made contact with Zuko's chest, more specifically the heart, that was when his world went black. Katara rushed over to him as fast as possible, tears streaming down her eyes. "Zuko!" she screamed in terror as she ran to find Appa with the banished prince in her arms. Once she found Appa, she lifted Zuko up onto the saddle, and with a quick "Yip-yip!" they were soaring away. Katara put her ear to Zuko's chest, trying to listen for any sign of a heartbeat or Zuko breathing. When she was unsuccessful in finding both of those things, the young waterbender found herself screaming in anger and denial. "No, no, no! Why didn't he just stand there and let me take one for the team! He could've became Fire Lord and declared the war over! My life wouldn't have been important anymore after the war anyways!" She was practically bawling at this moment. After every try at bringing him back, or searching for other signs of life was unsuccessful, she gave up. Zuko was gone.

Azula didn't even bother trying to blast them down. She knew that they wouldn't come back, especially with Zuko in the position he was in now. Now all that was left was to be crowned Fire Lord, and earn her rightful place on the throne. "My work is done," she declared out loud, with a smirk on her face.

**A/N: So, what do you think? I know this is short, I will try to make the second chapter longer. I don't think there was a way I could expand on this chapter anymore, the whole point of this one was to explain that Zuko lost the Agni Kai to Azula. I will write the next chapter ASAP.**


	2. Chapter 2

_"Zuko is.. erm, on Appa. He's sleeping under that blanket." said Katara nervously. She still hadn't figured out how exactly to break it to Iroh that Zuko was dead. She knew it would shatter him, after she recently learned that his son, and Zuko's cousin Lu Ten had died during the Fire Nation's Siege of Ba Sing Se, and how terribly Iroh reacted to it. "Well, come on out Zuko! What are you waiting for?" said Iroh unknowingly._

Katara recalled Iroh saying that him and the rest of the White Lotus (which was a secret organization which no one but the members knew of, up until he announced it to Team Avatar) were going to take back Ba Sing Se for the Earth Kingdom. He was the only person left that could become Fire Lord, being the only sane person in the royal family. She knew it was going to be a long, long ride over to Ba Sing Se. She had to fly all the way from the Capital City, out of the Fire Nation, across the ocean, almost all the way across the Earth Kingdom, and into Ba Sing Se. It would take a week's flight at least, and Katara and Appa would have to take a rest stop or two along the way. Azula would already be crowned Fire Lord by the time they got to Ba Sing Se! Iroh and Azula would have to do battle if Iroh was to become Fire Lord.

Katara had been trying to get to sleep for nearly two hours, but the thought of _"How am I supposed to tell Iroh that Zuko is dead?! It will crush him!"_ kept coming back to her and keeping her awake. Katara and Appa were on the shore of the Earth Kingdom, making their first rest stop. Appa had been flying for nearly two days straight, and neither Katara or the flying bison had gotten any sleep. _"What if they aren't done reclaiming Ba Sing Se?" "How will I break it to Iroh?" "What if Azula is too powerful and Iroh loses the battle for the throne?"_ These were the thoughts that were constantly rushing through Katara's mind, and the reason she has been trying to get some sleep for the past two hours. _"Everything will be okay, Katara. Just get some sleep, and you can worry about this later."_ A moment later, she was sound asleep.

**10 hours later**

Katara awoke to the sound of Iroh and the rest of the White Lotus members chatting over a fire. _"Oh no!"_ she thought as she remembered that she had Zuko covered up with a blanket on Appa, in plain sight! When she hopped straight up with a obviously nervous look on her face, Iroh and the others looked at her like she was insane. "Um, hey! You're.. awake?" said Iroh with the most confused look on his face. _"Phew! They must've been too naive to search Appa!"_ A look of relief washed over Katara. The White Lotus members still looked confused. "Oh, uh.. I had a bad dream, but thought it was real, and then was relieved when I realized it was just a dream, uh, so yeah. Anyways, what are you guys doing here?" "Oh, we just wanted to cool off in the water after a long day reclaiming Ba Sing Se for the Earth Kingdom." answered Bumi. "Oh! I nearly forgot! Where's Zuko? We searched all over the beach! Did you leave him in the Fire Nation?" asked Iroh. "Zuko is.. erm, on Appa. He's sleeping under that blanket." said Katara nervously. She still hadn't figured out how exactly to break it to Iroh that Zuko was dead. She knew it would shatter him, after she recently learned that his son, and Zuko's cousin Lu Ten had died during the Fire Nation's Siege of Ba Sing Se, and how terribly Iroh reacted to it. "Well, come on out Zuko! What are you waiting for?" said Iroh unknowingly. Well, it was time. She could not hold it off anymore.

Katara took a deep breath. She suddenly started crying out of her control. She didn't bother trying to hide it. "Okay, I can't hold this off anymore. Azula shot lightning towards me, and Zuko took a bullet, for me, a worthless young Water Tribe girl." said Katara, angry that Zuko didn't just let her die instead. "When we were safely on Appa, I noticed his heartbeat had stopped, and I couldn't help him with healing. Zuko is gone, Iroh, and it's all my fault! said Katara sadly. A single tear dropped from Iroh's eye. First he had to go through the death of his son, Lu Ten, and now his nephew who was like his own son to him! The man was cursed. "Katara, what happened to Zuko was not your fault at all. He jumped in front of that lightning bolt because he cared deeply for you, and he knew that it was for the best. My nephew was a stubborn boy. He wouldn't simply leap in front of a lightning bolt for just anyone. He loved you, Katara, and wouldn't want anything to happen to you." said Iroh calmly. "Wh- what? Aren't you mad at me?" said a confused Katara. "No, no. Why would I be mad at you? It's not like you told Azula to send that lightning bolt flying at you, right?" said Iroh. "Thanks, Iroh. You really know how to make someone feel better." said a calmer Katara. "Okay, now we need to get to more serious matter. The reason why I flew over here is because I had plans of going to Ba Sing Se to find you and tell you that you are the only person who can truly fix the Fire Nation and become Fire Lord, and that you would need to duel Azula. Oh, and sorry if I just put a million pounds of weight on your shoulders." said a serious Katara. _"Wait, did Iroh say that Zuko loved me a few minutes ago?"_ thought Katara in realization. _"Oh, right. I can think about that later, now is serious time."_ "I realized that as soon as you told me Zuko is dead. I'm ready to face Azula and become Fire Lord, but I don't think I can do it on my own."

**A/N: So, what did you think of that? I worked hard on this chapter, and I really hope that you like it. I barely managed to pass my 1k word goal. Also, I just couldn't help putting a touch of Zutara in there, even though I'm a Kataanger. It was the right moment, lol. Also, I just remembered the grammar rule that you have to make a new paragraph every time someone new talks. I'll make sure that I do that in the next chapters. Bye! :)**


End file.
